An Australian man, 72, survived an attack from multiple crocodiles by throwing wrenches and spark plugs at their heads.
The man and a friend were fishing for crabs while on vacation near Darwin, the capital of Australia's Northern Territory, when a crocodile deliberately capsized their 10-foot-long boat.
"Saltwater crocodiles are serious. They're big animals, powerful animals," said Ian Badham, the director of CareFlight, an aeromedical charity that contributed to the survivor's rescue.
Both men were frantic to get back into their boat. But the other man, supposedly in his 50s, drowned after being trapped under the vessel. The one who survived did so only by fending off the crocodile in a rather unorthodox method.
“As he was trying to crawl to shore near the mangroves, he had to use a spanner [a wrench] and sparkplugs, throwing things and banging at other crocs trying to get to him," said Badham. "It was just a sheer act of desperation and survival.”
The man was able to hide in a mangrove until changing tides allowed him to climb his way back onto solid ground. After a three-hour ordeal, a group of professional crabbers heard the man's screams and picked him up before calling in the air ambulance.
He was flown into Darwin proper and is being treated in a hospital for dehydration and exposure.
Crocodiles are known to kill nearly 2,500 people every year, making them 168 times more dangerous than sharks.